ORIGINAL STORY: Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) has a lot to say about Judge Neil Gorsuch. He hasn't stopped talking about him since 7 p.m. Tuesday night.

Merkley says the Senate should be discussing Merrick Garland, the judge nominated by former President Obama to replace Justice Antonin Scalia. He insists Senate Republicans' obstruction of Garland's nomination is an "assault on democracy." Republicans have threatened to use the "nuclear option" and rewrite Senate rules in the event of a Democratic filibuster.

To keep his marathon protest going, Merkley has read from a Politico article critical of Gorsuch, a blog post he wrote for The Huffington Post calling Gorsuch "too extreme" and criticized some of Gorsuch's rulings, including the Hobby Lobby case that determined businesses didn't have to pay for employees' birth control.

Gorsuch promised to speak "as long as I'm able."

If this seat is successfully stolen, no President will ever get a nominee through opposition Senate again. Awful precedent.